For the past two years, I’ve struggled with faith, and dealing with OCD has made some days harder than others. This year, I decided to pursue God 100% and now I’m part of a church community. I told some people that I deal with OCD constantly, and they prayed for me to be healed and more. But after they prayed, I felt peace and a bit uneasy for a couple of hours, and eventually all the effects of OCD came back. I guess I’m just wondering what it means when someone prays for your mental disorder to go away instantly, and instead of it going away, it continues shortly after prayer? Any advice on how to trust in God despite prayer feeling like it didn’t work?
First, always look to the creator rather than the creation. Yes, intercessory prayer is biblical, as the practice is described throughout the Bible with many examples and commands for believers to pray on behalf of others. However;
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:13-16
There is nothing wrong with someone praying for you. It can be a powerful experience. A more powerful one is you praying for yourself. Another thing we must remember is this. Yes, God answers all Prayers. Sometimes the answer is “No.” Sometimes the answer is “No” for our own good. As we tell our kids, “No” to touching the hot stove or playing in traffic, God tells us “No” to protect us from ourselves. Sometimes the answer is “No” for His own good, and to further His Will, Way, and Plan for our Lives. Sometimes God says “No” for His Kingdom’s sake, and even for others.
God does not heal everyone. Sometimes, it is not God’s will for you to be physically healed. I know, I know, that doesn’t sound like an answer many would want to hear. But it is the truth. Isaac was blind, and Jacob limped. Moses stuttered, Here, look at this. Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament and is one of the most powerful and blessed Saints on earth, was never healed physically by God.
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Sometimes we have to just accept it and follow Jesus as is. Always remember this.
“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:26-28
Peter
2 Likes
May I suggest that you take a look at this free link advising how to treat OCD.
Please read it and share it with your pastor and those seeking to support and help you.
OCD is a mental illness, just like a broken leg is a physical problem or cancer is a physical illness.
They All need the appropriate treatment, so please talk to your doctor ( share the link with him ) and keep taking your medication.
Prayer is more an expression of our trust in God. Some think it is measured in how effective it is in getting what we want. It is perhaps better to think of it as sharing what is in our hearts.
Many of our infirmaries are such as to force us to have to care for each other. Some have found reducing OCD effects with supplementation with Inositol (formerly vitamin B8).
1 Like
The obvious fact that we cannot find a single person on the face of the earth who does not have a current malady of some sort should set us into the proper environment in which supernatural healings occurred. All of our bodies are in a constant state of repair from some form of damage both internally and externally; we are always healing from something 24/7.
The healings recorded in Holy Scripture speak of a single observable disorder of an individual being remedied at the spoken Word of God, and that in a significant way (“significant” in that it was a “sign”, that is, the healing was not the most important part, but it pointed to something else). We know nothing of other physical difficulties or sicknesses that the same individuals may have been dealing with at the time, but we are fairly certain there were some. We also know that every significant healing recorded in the Bible was accomplished by God (Jesus) directly, and never by apostles, disciples, elders, or groups of well-meaning Christians,although it may look like they were doing it. When Jesus miraculously healed, even after His death through the ministry of another person, the person pronouncing the healing always gave the proper attribution to Jesus.
Case in point:
So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
(Acts 3:12-16)
The point is, physical healing was done as a sign, to openly point to the possibility of eternal spiritual healing through The one Messiah. It was done in some observable way, observable to those for whom the sign was appointed, and it was done specifically by the Will of God, and never due to the will of men.
“Faith” means “taking God at His word”, so “faith healing” means proclaiming what God has announced that He is doing (taking God at His word) knowing He is doing it for His significant purpose. It does not mean mustering up some sufficient emotional frenzy we call “belief”, that substitutes for true faith (hearing and obeying God), and then subsequently insisting God do our will; perform his miricales at our beckoning.
When you see the word “faith” in the text of some biblical healing, know it means that person was listening to and obeying God, and that God was doing something for His own purposes. Being physically healed of any malady is not among our rights as Christians, and we never have the audacity to demand it. Rather, we have learned to be content in our present state, knowing that our future state is one absent from all malady. Much more biblical encouragement is given to believers in the area of being content, having joy in trials, accepting suffering, trusting God through our various difficulties, and finding God’s purpose in our various maladies, than we find encouraging us to ask for remediation. It is natural to want to be healed, it is supernatural to trust God in the trial. We have The Spirit of God; we have the supernatural abiding within us.
Be well
KP